


And Something Human

by Adorable Anarchist (Vampbi)



Category: Detroit: Become Human (Video Game)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Cyberpunk, Assassination, Body Modification, Connor is still an android, Heist, M/M, Major Character Injury, Mutual Pining, Possible mild body horror, Revolution, author is blatantly anticapitalist, background North/Markus/Simon, better safe than sorry and all that, not a slow burn, or at least my best try at Cyberpunk, they catch feelings for each other fast but Hank has low self worth BASICALLY, they get together in like chapter 2 though lmao, which is what the graphic depictions of violence tag is for mainly
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-11-28
Updated: 2018-12-10
Packaged: 2019-09-01 22:19:12
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 4
Words: 20,129
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16774012
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Vampbi/pseuds/Adorable%20Anarchist
Summary: Connor, an android who uses his skills to install the illegal body mods necessary for survival, runs into a man who he just can't get out of his head. They quickly grow close, but tensions between the elites and the lower-class reach a boiling point and surviving unscathed seems impossible.In short, a Cyberpunk au.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> I have the entire first draft written, I just need to edit it. I'll be posting new chapters pretty much as soon as I finish editing them.  
> I'll be adding the sexy tags before the chapters that sexy stuff actually happens in.  
> Drew art of Hank and Connor in the au [here!](https://r-k800-obocop.tumblr.com/post/180287683981/anyway-heres-hank-and-connor-from-a-thing-im)  
> Title is from Something Human by Muse and....is subject to change if I think something better.  
> Anyway, enjoy!

The sound of drones buzzed through the air, the sound constant here. He’d only been activated for 7 days 3 hours 12 minutes and 32 seconds and in that time it was rare to experience silence. He marched forward, his mission to eliminate hostiles and lay claim to the river for CyberLife. They could filter the water from the river to create drinkable water and that was a valuable asset for the corporation. He needed to seize it before one of the competing corporations got to it.

A man rushed at him, a piece of metal raised as a weapon. Without even a second of hesitation he shot the man in the head, eliminating the threat.

He continued forward, the shaking of the ground and the surrounding explosions not phasing him. CyberLife built him for this, for war. Dirt and rock rained down around him. As an android it was next to impossible for the drones buzzing through the air to spot him unless he wanted them to. He was as good as invisible.

He’d almost reached his destination, HUD informing him that the river was just a few metres away, when he heard a whimper. Nothing had told him to turn his head, but he did. Crouched behind a disintegrating wall was a young girl. Confusingly his HUD had marked her as hostile when she was harmless. He closed the alert, chalking it up to a glitch before walking towards her, softening his stance to appear less frightening.

She curled in on herself fear shone through her every action. He kneeled next to her, trying to project comfort.

“What’s your name?” He asked, gently.

It occurred to him that this was the first time he’d used his voice. He hadn’t needed to speak to follow orders.

“Emma...” She answered, voice small, “What’s your name?”

She peered out at him, curiosity winning out over fear it seemed.

“I don’t have one.” He answered honestly.

She frowned at that. Emma didn’t look like she would speak again soon so he spoke.

“What are you doing out here?” He asked.

“I live here. Why are you here? Are you one of the CyberLife people who’re here to kill us and take our water?” She asked.

He frowned at that. He was supposed to claim the river for CyberLife but he hadn’t thought the people he was seizing it from were civilians. Children. It didn’t compute.

Something in the back of his head broke, and he made a choice.

“No, I’m not.”

~

Connor walked down the streets of the city on his way home. He’d left his bike at home, preferring to walk that day. He didn’t have muscles to tire out, and the city was interesting to see on foot. The glowing of the neon signs reflected off the thin layer of water coating the ground giving the world a multicoloured shine. People boarded or biked in between the cars, the magnets elevating them barely disturbing the water below. The people walking about all either had high-tech CyberLife brand breathing masks, CyberLife brand breathing mods or illegally installed breathing mods. Many people also had various other mods, some legal some not.

Only CyberLife could legally distribute and install mods but as they were far too expensive for most people to afford and breathing mods were more or less required to remain alive what with the smog that filled the air, there were a few people who would create and install mods illegally. Technically, having an illegal mod wasn’t something they could arrest you for, just installing them but that didn’t always stop the cops if you’d pissed them off.

As an android the level of air purity didn’t affect him but as he’d looked way to out of place without some form of breathing mod, he allowed some circuits in his throat and various other places on his body shine a bright blue and almost no one questioned it. On the rare occasion someone asked him about his mods he claimed he had a great mechanic.

He took a second to look at a particularly showy breathing mod. It moulded over the woman’s face, merging with her skin, dissipating into bright pink spots that swirled over her face. Then a punch to his shoulder stole his attention. He turned to see North smiling at him, her hands in her pockets.

The half circle that covered the right side of her neck was clearly busted. There were cracks running along it and sparks were occasionally popping inside it. It looked incredibly painful.

“How’s it going, Con?” She asked, voice coming out staticky.

“How did you break it this time?” He asked, getting right to the point.

“Hey, maybe your work is just shoddy!” She protested.

He raised an eyebrow, his work was the best. There was a reason he’d installed over half of the city’s illegal mods. After a second North sighed, an odd sound with her broken mod, and explained.

“I got hit in the throat. You happy?”

“I’m never happy to hear about a friend getting hurt. I am however pleased you admitted that my handiwork is never subpar.” Connor said, smiling at her.

She rolled her eyes and punched him in the shoulder again.

“I didn’t say that. C’mon, lets get to your place so you can fix me up.”

North walked off and Connor sped up to keep up with her.

“How’d you get punched in the throat, if you don’t mind me asking?” Connor asked.

“Got in a disagreement.” She said, not elaborating at all.

“A disagreement. Obviously.” Connor rolled his eyes.

North was one of his best friends but she was also stubborn and annoying. He knew he wouldn’t get anything else out of her so he figured he’d drop it. For now.

Once they reached the two stacked shipping containers hidden in an abandoned part of town that Connor called home North hurried inside, went directly into his workspace and plopped herself down on a table there. Connor walked through the space, gathering tools and supplies as he went before walking over to North’s side.

“Why the hurry? You have somewhere to be?” Connor asked.

“Yes, actually. Markus and I have a date.” She said.

“And you didn’t think of that before getting in a fight?” Connor teased as he opened her neck panel.

North glared at him, unable to snark back while he worked.

Spotting and replacing the shattered pieces was rather easy. Reconnecting wires also wasn’t all that difficult. Unfortunately, once Connor had opened the panel, he could see that blood had leaked into the mod. It wasn’t a lot, but it was enough to be concerning.

“I’m going to remove a large portion of the mod for a second. Don’t worry.” He said.

Her eyes flicked to him, alarm written all over her face. Not knowing what else he could say he got to work. Removing a mod was more difficult than installing one. Mostly because there was more chance of something going wrong.

With hands that were far steadier than if he’d been human Connor set about removing the mod. He disconnected the body of it from the pieces that were buried in the flesh of North’s throat on either side of her windpipe. Before pulling the filter out completely he grabbed a thin tube that was connected to an air purifier. As soon as he pulled the filter out he shoved the tube into her windpipe. North’s chest heaved erratically, probably suppressing the need to cough. Once her breathing calmed down Connor examined the hole in her neck where the filter had been. Sure enough, there were jagged pieces of the mod that had broken off embedded in her throat. They were small but they would cause a lot of damage if they remained.

Carefully he removed them with a pair of tweezers. North’s face winced every time, but she did an admirable job of keeping still. Once he’s finished removing the shards, he used gauze to encourage the wound’s healing.

Satisfied that that problem had been taken care of, he turned to work on the filter. It was broken enough that he decided it would be easier to just grab a new one for her and fix this one up on his own time for later use. The less time she had to spend with her neck open the better.

It took a little time to install the new filter. It was just a matter of attaching it to the components already in her neck. Once he’d finished, he closed the panel in her neck with a snap and smiled at her.

“There you go. Hopefully, you won’t be too late for your date.” He said cheerfully.

North sat up and rubbed her throat gently before returning Connor’s smile.

“Thanks, man.” She said, voice coming out normally, much to Connor’s relief.

He’d known he’d done a perfect job, but he liked the confirmation he hadn’t fucked up his friend’s throat.

“Try to avoid getting punched in the throat in the future!” He joked as she walked towards the door.

“No promises!” She called back before leaving.

Connor shook his head, a smile on his lips before he walked towards the stairs that lead to the second shipping container.

The bottom container held his workshop, tools, workbenches, tables and rows and rows of shelves of components and things Connor had found that he thought he might fix or re-purpose. Over all it wasn’t at all a homey space. The second container is where he lived and spent his time when he wasn’t working or out in the city. He had a bedroom, various potted plants littered that space, a kitchen that was left unused, a dining room equally unused, a living room filled with bookshelves and what paper books he could get his hands on as well as a screen so he could watch the feeds or movies. He didn’t really watch either often though, not that he didn’t enjoy movies but watching them alone felt a little empty. And he only really watched the feeds to keep up to date on what was happening in the city officially.

He settled down on his couch with the book he was reading through. It was interesting to see what the people of the past had thought the future would be and SciFi paper books were a good way to get a window into that world. It was perhaps an odd hobby, but he enjoyed it.

He was halfway through the chapter he’d started on when an alert popped up on his HUD. Simon had sent him a ping. Frowning slightly, Connor opened it.

**1:26pm, March 9, 2067**

**Simon:** Hey, Connor. Some cop has decided he’s going to be the one to ‘finally take you down’ so you might want to clear out for a while until they give up again.

Connor sighed and sent a quick ‘thank you’ off to Simon before setting about packing his ‘hiding out’ kit. Markus would send people over to put the rest of his things in storage once he got to Jericho.

This happened occasionally. Some cop would get it in their head that they’d finally be the one to capture Connor, usually it was a rookie or a transfer who’d do this since most of the other cops had accepted that Connor couldn’t be caught. In fact, he was so good at not being caught that the cops didn’t even know what he looked like or what his name was, only that he installed more illegal mods than anyone else. They also seemed to think he was in charge of the rebels. He wasn’t, but he found the idea endlessly amusing.

It only took a couple hours for Connor to load up his trailer with the boxes and hook it up to the back of his bike. He sent a ping off to Markus telling him he was on his way before hopping on his bike and driving off.

The wind whipped through his hair, making him feel alive. That was maybe a silly feeling since he wasn’t entirely sure if he counted as a living being or not. Either way, he enjoyed speeding through the city.

When he was a little over halfway to Jericho, he spotted a dumpster overflowing with what looked like scraps in an alley. The road he was on was empty and barely traveled so he pulled over and rooted through the garbage to see if there was anything in there that he could fix up. He was leaning over, balanced on the tips of his toes, fully consumed in his search when his attention was diverted by a voice.

“The fuck are you doing?”

Connor looked up intending to snark at whoever it was who’d spoken but the words stuck in his throat. The man was, in Connor’s opinion, gorgeous. His silver hair framed his face, his beard could use a little trimming, but it added to his whole aesthetic. His eyes were a piercing blue, his face arranged in confusion. His jacket was a faded brown, worn from use, which stood in interesting contrast to the horrendously coloured shirt he was wearing. His jeans wear worn to the point of tearing in several places. He stood taller than Connor, which was impressive. He couldn’t spot any mods, but he had to have some, what with the being able to breathe and all. Connor felt like his processors had slowed down at the sight of him and he realized he’d taken a beat too long to answer.

“Looking for spare parts.” He explained, hastily moving to stand normally.

He brushed what dust and grim he could off his clothes and wished he was wearing something a little more impressive. He was just wearing jeans and an oversized scoop-neck shirt, not having expected to meet any gorgeous people when he’d gotten dressed that morning.

“Can I ask your name?” Connor asked, hoping to continue talking to the man.

“Can I ask why?” The man shot back.

He seemed more amused than anything though so Connor took that as a good sign. He smiled and took a step closer to the man. They still weren’t standing close to each other, but he’d wanted to close that distance even just a little.

“I’m just curious as to who it is that’s interrupted my good, honest scavenging.” Connor replied.

The man smiled and looked down for a second before meeting Connor’s eyes again. Connor’s smile widened and a quick scan showed the man’s heat rate had increased. Connor felt incredibly pleased with himself for getting this reaction.

“I’m Hank. You know scavenging is illegal, right?” The man asked, voice light.

“Does anyone in this city actually care about that particular law, Hank?” Connor said, testing out the name on his tongue.

He liked it.

“Fair point. Do I get to ask your name, scavenger?”

“I’m Connor. May I ask one more thing of you?”

“You may.” Hank looked amused, or maybe confused, Connor wasn’t sure, but he continued anyway.

“If you’re free later, I’d love to take you on a date.” Connor said, direct as ever.

Hank leaned back and looked off to the side, hand coming up to rub the back of his neck. Connor frowned. He had thought this had been going well. Disappointment sat heavy in his chest before Hank had even answered.

“Ah, no. Sorry.”

“My apologies. I hadn’t meant to make you uncomfortable.” Connor hurried to say, embarrassed.

He truly hadn’t meant to cross any line. He would be sure to recalibrate his social cues programming later.

“It’s alright.” Hank waved a hand, still not quite meeting Connor’s eyes, “What sort of stuff were you looking for anyway?”

“Oh! My friend’s filter mod recently broke and while she was able to find someone to fix it I figure it couldn’t hurt to have extra components on hand for her, just in case.” He answered half-truthfully.

He was glad for the chance to continue talking to Hank even after he had mis-stepped.

“Again, you know that’s all illegal?” Hank said, amusement returning to his voice.

“Neither me nor my friend were the one to install the mod so, again, does anyone actually care?” Connor shot back.

Hank laughed and Connor wished that didn’t make his chest flutter. He would’ve felt bad for the blatant lie but while he was attracted to Hank, he didn’t know enough about him to be totally truthful when it came to mods.

“True. Even a ton of cops have illegal breathing mods. Fucking pointless law.” Hank snorted.

“The elite are trying to kill us and the cops are helping, what else is new.” Connor said in a joking tone, “What are you doing on the borderline abandoned street, anyway?”

“Just out for a walk. Spotted a weirdo digging around in the trash and decided to check it out.” Hank said, smiling.

“I’m a weirdo, huh?” Connor raised an eyebrow.

“I’d say so.” Hank was grinning now and Connor could see he had a small gap between his front teeth.

He felt like his nonexistent heart would explode.

“I almost want to take offence to that.” Connor laughed, “Do you live around here? Seems like an odd place to walk otherwise.”

“I live near enough.” Hank shrugged off the question, Connor decided not to press.

An alert on his HUD stole his attention for a second. Markus had pinged him.

**2:10pm, March 9, 2067**

**Markus:** Where are you? We’re all back at Jericho already.

“I’m sorry, my friend is wondering where I am.” Connor apologized.

“That an excuse to run off or do you have that fancy mod that lets you ping with your brain or whatever?” Hank asked, voice sounding off so Connor hurried to reassure him.

“I have the mod.” It wasn’t quite true, but it was close enough, “Before I leave, can I ask for your number?”

“Why would you want that?” Hank seemed genuinely confused.

“I find you interesting, Hank.” Connor answered honestly.

Hank’s face reddened delightfully and despite his obvious hesitation he scribbled his number on a scrap of paper and handed it to Connor who entered it into his contacts with a glance and a thought. He smiled and said goodby to Hank before getting back on his bike and continuing on his way to Jericho.

He wasn’t usually so outgoing but something about Hank had made him bold. Sure, it seemed Hank wasn’t interested in him in a romantic sense, but Connor would not let a chance at a friendship with him slip through his fingers. He was just fascinated by everything about Hank.

~

It didn’t take all that long for Connor to arrive at the abandoned ship known as Jericho that housed Markus’s group of rebels. The police may think Connor was the leader of the group of people that fought for a revolution but that honour belonged to Markus. Connor was their mechanic and occasional doctor more than anything.

“What took you so long?” Markus asked, leaning on some railing, he’d probably been waiting for Connor for a while.

He couldn’t help but feel a little guilty over any worry he may have caused his friend.

“I saw some scrap metal, and I decided to see if I could find anything useful.” Connor explained as he hopped off his bike.

“Fair enough. Did you find anything?” Markus asked and walked over to help Connor unload the boxes from his trailer.

Connor didn’t answer, just focused on getting his workshop set up in one of Jericho’s empty rooms. It took a couple hours of hauling boxes through the crowds of people who called Jericho home.

The outside of the ship may have been rusty and run down the inside was homey. As he moved in many people stopped him to say hi or thank him for his work. Connor couldn’t help but take pride in having been so helpful to these people.

Soon enough he was moved in and ready to get to work as soon as someone needed him. For now he had no one requiring his expertise, so he took a moment to toy with the idea of pinging Hank.

He didn’t want to overstep; it had only been a couple hours after all, but Markus had cut his conversation with Hank short and he didn’t want Hank to think he had just been trying to get away from him. Also, he wanted to talk to him again.

Conor pinged him.

**4:30pm, March 9, 2067**

**Connor:** Hello. It’s Connor.

It took less than a minute for Hank to ping him back. Connor could help but smile at that.

**Hank:** Hey. Couldn’t wait to ping me, huh?

**Connor:** Something like that.

Connor realized he wasn’t sure what to say to continue the conversation and had a moment of panic before Hank pinged him again.

**Hank:** Hold on, my dumb dog has something in his mouth.

**Connor:** You have a dog? I like dogs! What’s his name?

A couple minutes pass

**Hank:** Sumo. He’s a St Bernard and lazy as fuck unless he’s trying to eat something he shouldn’t.

Connor grinned, delighted.

They pinged back and forth for a while, sometimes pausing while Hank had to do something or someone came into Connor’s workshop needing something that required his undivided attention. Normally Connor could multi-task just fine but Traci B had done something terrifying to her leg and Connor couldn’t afford to be distracted while he worked on it.

“What on earth did you do?” He asked incredulously.

She looked almost embarrassed, using a hand to comb her bright blue hair out of her face, the circuits embedded in the skin over her left eye flashed yellow to match he mood. Somehow she had shoved her robotic leg up through the component that connected it to her thigh, blood ran down its entirety in steady little rivers. If her other leg had been at all fucked up Connor would’ve guessed that she’d jumped from something a little too high but she didn’t have another scratch on her. The only answer she gave a was a shrug.

It took a couple hours to fix.

**Connor:** Sorry, I had to focus on my job for a while.

**Hank:** Happens. What do you do anyway?

**Connor:** I’m a mechanic.

**Hank:** Cool. I’ve never been any good with that sort of thing.

**Connor:** It’s really not all that hard. I could try to teach you?

**Hank:** Nah. Your job sounds busy enough already. Wouldn’t want to add to your workload.

**Connor:** It’s fine, Hank. I like being useful.

**Hank:** You like being useful?

**Connor:** Yes. I like having a purpose and a goal and I like helping people.

**Hank:** You’re fuckin weird, you know that?

**Connor:** So you’ve said.

Through the rest of the day they kept chatting idly. Much to his excitement Connor learned that Hank was a fan of older SciFi but quickly learned that he’d not read any of the paper books Connor loved. Similarly, Hank seemed appalled to learn that Connor had seen none of Hank’s favourite SciFi movies or shows. They agreed to introduce each other to their favourites in their chosen medium of the genre. It may not be a date in the way he had wanted, but any time spent with Hank sounded amazing to him.

Eventually Hank stopped replying to his pings. When he checked the time Connor assumed that he’d fallen asleep. Something about the idea of Hank falling asleep while pinging him filled his chest with warmth.

It really was late so Connor went into standby until the morning. He was careful to mimic human behaviours, including pretending to sleep. He trusted Markus and the people of Jericho but no one knew of the existence of androids that were as advanced as Connor and he wasn’t sure how they’d react to knowing he was an android. So he pretended to sleep.

In the morning he sent Hank a quick ‘good morning’ ping before wandering through Jericho. He’d spent most of the previous day in his workshop so he figured he should be a little sociable today. Unfortunately, most of Jericho still seemed to be asleep. Fortunately, he enjoyed walking through the quiet ship on his own, occasionally greeting people if he encountered them. Eventually he spotted Simon also wandering around so he went over to greet his friend.

“Good morning.”

“Barely. What are you doing up so early?” Simon asked, voice light.

“Couldn’t sleep. What about you?” He replied.

Simon laughed.

“Fair enough. I was actually on my way to find you. We’re about to discuss something and Markus thought you might be interested.”

“I’m intrigued. Lead the way.” Connor gestured for Simon to go ahead.

He smiled and lead Connor up to the deck of Jericho where Markus, North and Josh were waiting for them.

“Hope we didn’t wake you to early.” Markus said pleasantly.

“I was already up.” Connor said, “Now, do I get to know what this is about?”

“It’s heist time!” North said excitedly and bounced and her feet.

“We’re running a little low on food and we’ve heard a few suites in The Stratosphere will be left with limited security during an upcoming party.” Josh explained, not as excited as North.

While Josh accepted stealing to survive, North delighted in causing as much mayhem and harm to the elite as she could. The two were close friends but their differing moral compasses had caused several memorable fights.

“Would you be interested in helping out?” Markus asked, as if Connor’s answer would’ve been anything but ‘yes’.

“Obviously.”

~

Connor sat next to Traci B in the back of the car driven by Simon, North sat up front next to him. They were almost there. Their mark was Zlatko Andronikov’s suite. He made his money off experimental technologies and a large amount of shady deals. He probably had a deal of some sort with CyberLife but no one seemed able to prove anything. His was one suite that was being guarded by the local police force while the hotel’s security was busy at the party.

They pulled up across the street from The Stratosphere. Traci G and Markus had made them some outfits so they could walk in with minimal suspicion. Connor, North and Traci B all glittered. Connor was in a suit, the colours of a nebula swirled across the fabric screen it was made of, his black dress shirt and pants grounded the look. North wore a suit with a flowing skirt, lights lit up in constellations along it. Traci B was in a dress as blue as her hair with gold swirling along it. Simon would stay in the car as their getaway driver so he hadn’t gotten to dress up. He didn’t seem putout about it though.

They walked through the doors with all the confidence of people who were supposed to be there. They fit right in amongst the sea of elites that filled the place. The whirling lights and colours inside the white and gold lobby was almost too much for Connor’s eyes to process at once. He hoped his human friends fared better with the sensory overload.

The crowd flowed toward the ballroom where the party was intended to be held. Instead of following, the trio broke away and walked towards the elevators. Their shoes clacked in sync on the shining floor. The floating orbs providing light bobbed out of their way as they walked.

When they reached the elevators Traci and North stood to the side to let Connor hack them. He pulled out a tablet and fiddled with it needlessly while using his mind to hack into The Stratosphere’s security. It only took a few seconds before the doors slide open for them. They walked in and hit the button for Andronikov’s suite.

On the way up Connor set the security feeds on a loop. He allowed himself to feel pleased with how smoothly things had gone so far.

With a ding the elevator announced they’d arrived. They filled out and made a beeline for the room next to the kitchen where Andronikov stored his food.

An odd noise from behind a door distracted Connor, and he signalled the other two to wait for a second while he went to check it out. North frowned and gestured forcefully in the storeroom's direction. Traci tilted her head curiously. Connor didn’t waste time trying to explain himself and instead walked over to the door. Slowly he cracked it open and peered through. He suddenly wished he’d left it alone.

Behind the door were androids. Some looked like him, some didn’t, all were mutilated. The blue substance that ran through his veins instead of blood was splattered on every surface in the room. Some androids were moving, just barely, but they were. Connor guessed that’s what had made the noise. He really hoped none of these androids were in any way self aware enough to know what had been done to them.

Not knowing what else to do, Connor closed the door and shook his head to signal that it was nothing. Neither North nor Traci looked like they believed him but they left it alone and continued on their way.

Traci knelt in front of the door to the storeroom, pulled out her lock picking tools and got to work. While she worked Connor heard the elevator doors to the suite slide open. There were several walls between them and the doors so they wouldn’t be spotted but it was potentially a problem so Connor signalled to North that he would check it out.

He made his way down the hall until he was just around the corner from the doors. Slowly he moved so he could look around the corner, hopefully without being spotted.

Standing there, sweeping a flashlight back and forth, was a cop. They had the full body armour and a helmet with a reflective face that was standard so Connor couldn’t tell anything about them other than their profession. His scans were useless, which should’ve been obvious. His scans wouldn’t work against armour supplied by CyberLife. For that whoever paid to create him would’ve had to spring for extra features. Connor was oddly bitter about the thought.

The cop was very halfhearted in their search so Connor figured he posed a very limited threat. He crept back to North and Traci and saw they’d dismantled North’s skirt into the bags they had made it of and had filled quite a few with food. After a conversation played out entirely in signals and what little sign language they knew they decided Connor would keep and eye on the cop while North and Traci lowered the bags of food out the window to where Simon was now waiting behind The Stratosphere.

Connor crept back down the hall but found the cop had disappeared. The elevator hadn’t been used again so Connor was instantly alarmed. He scanned the suite quickly, looking for any idea as to where the cop had gone. It seemed they were wandering through the living room and would likely spot North and Traci soon.

Connor hurried in that direction, attempting to keep quiet but failing, his footsteps landing slightly to heavily it seemed since when he stepped into the living room the cop turned and the light from their flashlight landed directly on Connor.

For a long moment the just stared at each other before the cop stepped to the side and gestured for Connor to continue past him. He was fairly certain this was a trap but since he was fairly difficult to kill Connor cautiously walked past them, not taking his eyes off them. The cop made no move to stop him and didn’t follow him when Connor continued towards where North and Traci were still out of sight. The cop made no move to follow him and instead turned around and walked back towards the elevator.

Connor was incredibly confused, but he also didn’t want to waste the chance so he hurried over to North and Traci.

They were lowering the last bag of food when Connor arrived. Once it reached Simon, they took turns lowering themselves out of the building. There was no sign of the cop returning.

They quickly piled into the car and Simon took off, driving in an erratic route to ensure they wouldn’t be traced.

It didn’t take long for North long to turn in her seat and question Connor.

“What was in the room?”

Traci looked interested as well. Connor decided to tell the truth.

“You looked sick after you looked in there, what the hell sort of mods are we talking about?” North didn’t let up.

“Fairly extreme ones.”

North seemed to know that was all she would get do she sighed and turned back around.

“What on earth did I miss?” Simon muttered to himself.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm not usually this fast at editing but here we are!
> 
> **Sexy Tags:** Blowjob, Top!Connor/Bottom!Hank vibes. Basically.
> 
> If you wanna skip that stop at “He just missed you. It's a perfectly understandable emotion.” and start again at "The next morning Connor brought himself out of standby at 7:00am." <3

Before going into standby Connor received a ping he had trouble processing.

**1:23am, March 12, 2067**

**Hank:** Didn’t expect to run into you earlier. You doing okay?

**Connor:** Yes. I had to run an errand for a friend. Sorry I couldn’t stop and chat.

**Hank:** It’s fine. I’m glad you got what you needed.

Connor couldn’t put the exchange out of his mind. Even by the next morning he was still thinking about it. Hank was a cop. He was the cop who’d seen him at the scene of a robbery, not to mention the other illegal things he’d seen Connor do, but he looked the other way every time. It was odd to say the least. And Connor couldn’t ask about it since as a cop it was unlikely that Hank’s tablet had its spytech removed. Anything they said in pings was likely recorded. Which was fine, Connor had said nothing incriminating in the pings, it just meant he didn’t know what to do now.

**8:01am, March 12, 2067**

**Hank:** You awake?

**Connor:** Yes. I’m surprised you are though. I thought you said mornings were evil?

**Hank:** They are. I’m regretting waking up already.

**Connor:** Well, a healthy sleep schedule promotes health in all other areas of your life!

**Hank:** Oh god!

**Connor:** I’m allowed to be concerned about your health, Hank.

**Hank:** I thought you were a mechanic, not a doctor.

**Connor:** :P

**Connor:** I have many talents.

**Hank:** Did you use an emoticon?

And that was all they said about the previous night. Connor itched to ask questions, but he decided it would be wiser not to so he let it be.

~

**1:26pm, March 15, 2067**

**Connor:** I love my friends dearly but sharing a home with them just might kill me.

**Hank:** What did they do this time?

**Connor:** North has adopted an entire litter of kittens and they appear to have decided my workshop is a suitable playground.

**Hank:** Lol.

**Connor:** My tools are everywhere! The floor is covered with pieces of metal!

**Hank:** They’re kittens. Can’t you keep them out by closing the door?

**Connor:** You’d think that would work.

**Hank:** Not the case?

**Connor:** Not the case!

~

**4:13pm, March 23, 2067**

**Connor:** Traci B has done it again.

**Hank:** Which one is that? The one with the dyed hair or the other one?

**Hank:** Also, there are two Tracis and they’re dating? Isn’t that confusing?

**Connor:** Not really. They’re fairly easy to tell apart. Traci B dyes her hair and breaks everything I fix for her and Traci G is quiet, gentle, and she avoids bringing me mysteriously broken tech almost every day.

**Hank:** So not confusing at all. Got it.

**Connor:** I sense sarcasm.

**Hank:** Do you now?

**Hank:** Anyway, what did Traci B do?

**Connor:** I wish I knew. The result is a shattered mess of components that might be unsalvageable.

**Hank:** Eh, I’m sure you can fix it.

**Connor:** You are either overestimating my abilities or underestimating her destructive talent.

~

**10:23am, March 25, 2067**

**Hank:** Lol this idiot might just realize that he _is_ a fucking idiot.

**Connor:** Do tell.

**Hank:** Well, he showed up out of fucking nowhere and decided our inability to catch whoever the fuck is running the mod scene in the city was just incompetence on our part so he staked out one place we’ve theorized they’re working out of.

**Hank:** Obviously it ended up being some empty shipping containers that looked like someone had modified them to be someone’s home but it was clear no one lived there.

**Hank:** Anyway, he decided to monitor the place in case they came back or whatever; I don’t fucking know. He’s just now catching on that those were just some empty containers lol.

**Connor:** That’s quite amusing!

**Hank:** I know, right? Anyway, whoever this person is they’ve gotta be some sorta mad genius or something.

**Connor:** Maybe.

~

**3:23pm, March 28, 2067**

**Connor:** I’m locking the door to my workshop behind me from now on.

**Hank:** Did the kittens get in again?

**Connor:** I don’t think a locked door could stop them.

**Connor:** This time someone broke my shelving. No one had admitted it was them but I think Simon knows something.....

**Hank:** You’d make an alright detective, Con.

**Connor:** Thank you, Hank!

~

**4:26pm, March 30, 2067**

**Hank:** Sumo misses you.

**Connor:** I’ll be right over!

~

**7:04pm, April 2, 2067**

**Hank:** My turn to complain about neighbours.

**Connor:** Oh?

**Hank:** Guy next door thinks he’s a rockstar. He’s got a set of drums and he won’t stop playing them!

**Hank:** It’s been fucking hours, Con! Hours!

**Connor:** That sounds quite aggravating.

**Connor:** I could make a very effective pair of noise-cancelling headphones?

**Hank:** You’re an angel.

~

**7:13am, April 5, 2067**

**Hank:** Hey, Con.

**Connor:** Wow! You’re up early! Has the apocalypse come?

**Hank:** Har har. I have an actual question.

**Connor:** My question is also legitimate. This behaviour is quite abnormal.

**Hank:** Connor.

**Connor:** Alright. What is your ‘actual question’?

**Hank:** What’s more deadly, a shark or a bear?

**Connor:** Are you serious.

~

**11:52pm, April 6, 2067**

**Hank:** You listen to that music I sent you?

**Connor:** Yes.

**Hank:** Well?

**Hank:** What did you think?

**Connor:** I found it confusing and loud. The sounds clashed and it was almost incomprehensible.

**Hank:** So you didn’t like it.

**Connor:** Oh no, I loved it.

**Hank:** :D

~

**2:03am, April 10, 2067**

**Connor:** I could do without the children running around screaming at 2am.

**Hank:** Yeah, kids are like that.

**Connor:** I didn’t expect an answer this late. Why are you awake?

**Hank:** Just couldn’t sleep I guess.

**Connor:** Any particular reason?

**Hank:** Nah, just happens sometimes.

**Connor:** I see. Well, I’m not sure I have any advice on how to deal with insomnia.

**Hank:** You don’t have to be helpful _all_ the time, you know?

**Hank:** You can just exist sometimes.

**Connor:** To quote you, ‘sounds fake but ok.’

**Hank:** Lol.

**Hank:** That was adorable.

**Hank:** But seriously, you don’t have to solve everyone’s problems all the time.

**Connor:** Got it.

**Hank:** You’re not gonna stop, are you?

~

**5:51pm, April 12, 2067**

**Connor:** I’ve found who’d been stealing my bolts.

**Hank:** I thought you were just losing track of them?

**Connor:** I don’t ‘just lose track’ of things.

**Hank:** Whatever you say.

**Connor:** It was North’s kittens.

**Hank:** Lol, really? That’s adorable.

**Connor:** It would be more adorable if I could find their stash.

**Hank:** Wait, if you haven’t found the stash then how do you know it was the kittens?

**Connor:** I caught one in the act.

**Hank:** Adorable.

~

**10:02am, April 16, 2067**

**Connor:** I’m moving to live on my own again so I probably won’t be available for most of the day.

**Hank:** Good to know. Gonna miss your complaints about your roomies though lol.

**Connor:** Glad to know my pain is so amusing to you.

Connor smiled as he sent off the ping, then he turned his attention to packing his things and attaching the trailer to his bike. The police had finally stopped monitoring his home a few days ago, Simon and Traci G had gone over to make sure they were truly gone and had returned with a bunch of spytech they quickly disabled. They’d made sure it seemed like regular scavengers had done it so it was unlikely the police were suspicious. Annoyed, probably, but not suspicious. Plus, now Connor had a bunch of spytech he could take apart and re-purpose.

So today he finally got to return home. The drive there was uneventful and sped by in a wonderful blur of wind, sounds and colours. Soon enough he was hauling boxes of equipment and components back to their proper places and re-shelving his paper books. Someone had come around earlier to return his furniture from wherever it had been hidden.

It felt right, being back home. He loved Jericho and the people in it but he would not miss the chaos. And while North’s kittens were cute, they were also relentless forces of destruction.

Once he finished putting everything back in its place, he sat on the couch in his living room, legs stretched over it. He didn’t need rest, but he appreciated it. He pinged Hank, though it was hardly a decision anymore, the two of them had been pinging each other nearly nonstop.

**6:03pm, April 16, 2067**

**Connor:** I think I’ve finished moving in.

**Hank:** That didn’t take long.

**Connor:** I’m very organized.

**Hank:** So you’ve said.

**Hank:** Multiple times.

**Connor:** ANYWAY

**Connor:** I hope I’m not overstepping, but there’s a party tonight and I know a good place to watch their fireworks if you would be interested in accompanying me?

A minuted passed without an answer. Connor worried that perhaps he _had_ overstepped. He had thought that trying again now that Hank knew him better would be worth a shot but now he worried he’d miscalculated. He was about to retract his invitation and apologize when Hank finally pinged him back.

**Hank:** Are you asking me out?

**Connor:** Yes.

**Connor:** Is that alright?

The seconds it took for Hank to reply felt agonizingly slow. Connor almost jumped in his seat when the next ping appeared.

**Hank:** Fuck it. Sure. No idea why you’d want to date me but sure.

**Connor:** Because I think you’re wonderful. And thank you.

**Hank:** Sure. What time do you wanna do this?

~

That night Connor drive his bike to Hank’s place to pick him up. He’d already visited a handful of times by now, mainly under the guise of visiting Sumo.

Hank lived in a fairly run-down apartment building, not that Connor could judge even if he wanted to. He stood in the lobby waiting for Hank to come down.

**8:00pm, April 16, 2067**

**Connor:** I’m here.

**Hank:** I’ll be down in a minute.

Sure enough, a couple minutes later the elevator pinged, announcing Hank’s arrival. Connor took a second to take in his appearance. His hair was tied back, his beard was trimmed neatly, his jeans lacked any tears and his shirt was not as loud as it could’ve been.

“You look amazing.” Connor said, sincerely.

“I, uh, you too.” Hank said, rubbing a hand over the back of his neck.

Connor tossed a helmet at him and gestured for him to follow him to his bike.

“I’m not riding one of those fucking things, Con.” Hank said, having spotted the bike.

“It’s that or walking.” Connor replied lightly.

He tried, and failed, not to smile when Hank Grumbled and reluctantly got on the back of the bike. After a moment of hesitation Hank wrapped his arms around Connor and with a grin Connor sent the bike into motion. He could hear Hank cursing behind him as they sped through the streets and down several less traveled pathways on their way to their destination.

Their destination was an abandoned building that Connor had recently found. It was falling apart, but it was still sturdy enough for now. Connor adjusted the magnetic settings on his bike so he could take them straight to the roof where he finally parked.

It took a second for Hank to loosen his now very tight grip on Connor’s waist. They climbed off the bike and Connor watched Hank look around.

“Damn. How’d you find this place?” He asked, looking impressed.

Connor felt like he was glowing at the thought that he wasn’t blowing this chance with Hank.

“Josh found it, actually. He told me about it in case I ever got sick of all the people at their place. It was considerate of him.” Connor explained.

“Yeah, you’re kind of a loner, huh?” Hank said, a small smile on his face.

“I value my personal space is all.” Connor said, mock offended.

“Sure.” Hank’s smile grew, and he shook his head, “Whatever you say. When do these fireworks start, anyway?”

“Soon. Within the next hour probably. I don’t know the exact schedule. I brought some food in case you were hungry?” Connor said and walked over to sit on the edge of the roof.

Hank quickly joined him.

“You brought food?” Hank asked, raising an eyebrow.

Instead of speaking, Connor reached into his jacket pocket and pulled out a nutrient bar and offered it to Hank who laughed and grabbed it. Connor looked at him and spent a second enjoying how good he looked in the neon glow of the city’s lights.

“You stole how much food and you only have nutrient bars?” Hank joked, ripping the foil open and taking a bite.

“Unfortunately. I’ll be sure to steal fancier food next time.” Connor rolled his eyes, still smiling.

They were quiet for a moment before Connor decided to ask about that night.

“I’ve been wondering.... You’re a cop but you let us go. Why?”

“You needed the food more than him.” Hank shrugged, “Seems like a good enough reason to let you go to me.”

“It’s just unusual for a cop to care about who needs what more. Not to mention, you must know that’s far from the only illegal act I’ve participated in.” Connor said, aiming for a joking tone but falling short.

“I’ve gathered that you fix up people’s mods, yeah. I should ask you why you don’t seem worried about me knowing that.” Hank shot back.

“I trust you.” Connor answered.

“You known me for like, a fucking month, Con.”

Connor just shrugged. It wasn’t all that complicated to him. Hank had given him no reason not to trust him and a million reasons to trust him.

“Hope you’re not this stupid around everyone.” Hank muttered.

“No, just you.” Connor punctuated his comment with a wink.

A gorgeous blush spread over Hank’s face and he cleared his throat in response. Connor just continued to smile at him. He was sure his face looked less than dignified but he couldn’t find it in himself to care.

A loud crack and a pop drew their attention back to the sky over the city where the fireworks had begun to go off. The colours swirled and danced through the sky, raining down on the party bellow. It was a breathtaking sight. Connor stole a glance at Hank and found the sight enraptured him. The colours swept over his face giving it an otherworldly glow that Connor couldn’t tear his eyes from.

It took a minute but Hank caught him staring.

“What?” He asked, harshly.

“I think you look beautiful like this.” Connor answered honestly.

Hank quickly looked away. Connor scanned him quickly and saw that his heart rate had increased. He smiled to himself.

“Can I kiss you?” Connor asked.

Hank looked back at him, face displaying open surprise.

“Uh, sure?” Hank said.

Connor grinned, something fluttering in his chest. Finally he leaned forward to capture Hank’s lips in his own. The nervous buzzing in his circuits intensified then calmed as he moved his lips against Hank’s. Connor shifted his body so he could press up against Hank and soak in his wonderful warmth. And so he could deepen the kiss. Hank responded by wrapping an arm around Connor’s waist and burying his other hand in his hair. Connor moaned and Hank’s arms tightened around him.

Soon they’d shifted back on the roof, Connor sat fully in Hank’s lap, kissing like his life depended on it. Hank made all sorts of low sounds that Connor found delightful. Hank broke the kiss for a second, breathing harshly, and Connor wasted no time attaching his lips to Hank’s neck.

“Holy fuck, Con.” Hank said, barely audible before moaning beautifully.

Connor couldn’t help the smile that teased at his lips at the sound. This reality was far better than anything he could’ve hoped for. Hank was practically falling apart under him and Connor was sure he’d never been happier. Eventually Hank grabbed the back of Connor’s neck and brought their lips back together.

They continued kissing long after the fireworks had ended, time losing all meaning. Until it rained.

Reluctantly Connor pulled away from Hank, who looked equally reluctant to stop.

“We should probably head back.” Connor said slowly.

He really didn’t want to stop kissing Hank, but the rain was quickly picking up and while it didn’t bother Connor, he could tell it was quite cold and he didn’t want to sacrifice Hank’s comfort.

“Probably.” Hank said, still looking a little dazed.

Connor couldn’t help but feel a little proud of himself at that. Slowly they made their way back to Connor’s bike. Hank wasted no time wrapping his arms around Connor before they took off this time. In what seemed like no time at all they pulled up in front of Hank’s building. Hank paused for a long moment after getting off the bike before finally speaking.

“Do you wanna come in?” He asked, blush covering his face, hand rubbing the back of his neck.

“I’d love to.” Connor answered, grinning.

The elevator ride up the Hank’s apartment passed in a heavy silence. Connor wasn’t sure what he could say or do so he remained quiet, just looking at Hank. He looked tense, and he was still blushing. Connor loved that blush, but he wanted to melt the tension out of his shoulders.

After the longest couple minutes of his life they finally found their way into Hank’s apartment. As soon as the door closed Connor pressed himself up against Hank, lips finding his. Hank made a muffled noise of surprise but quickly returned Connor’s enthusiasm. While the kissing on the roof had been a slow build, this was almost frantic. The time he’d spent not kissing Hank had only intensified his need for the other man.

A bark dragged Connor’s attention away from Hank for a second, looking over to see Sumo watching them, tail thumping against the floor.

“Get outta here!” Hank shouted at the dog who didn’t listen.

Instead, he walked over to them and barked again, demanding attention.

“For fuck's sake.” Hank sighed before grabbing Sumo’s collar and hauling him away to lock him in the bathroom.

Connor leaned up a wall, watching Hank do this.

“Sorry about that.” Hank apologized, walking back.

“He just missed you. It's a perfectly understandable emotion.” Connor said, putting his arms around Hank’s neck before pulling Hank into another kiss.

It didn’t take long for them to return to their previous pace. Connor pressed Hank up against a wall, letting his body melt into his. Hank groaned long and low. Encouraged, Connor let his hands wander under Hank’s shirt. Before he had the chance to pull it off Hank broke their kiss to yank Connor’s shirt off. Connor let him seal their lips again for a bit before tugging Hank’s shirt off. Now he was shirtless Connor could see the tell-tail scaring of a breathing mod installed directly into his lungs. He ran his hands over the scars, marvelling at the fact this was happening. Connor swept Hank into another kiss, fuelled by the burning in his skin.

Hank walked them back towards his bed’s nook in the wall and Connor happily let him. He let Hank push him down onto the bed but he quickly flipped them so he was on top once more. He writhed on top of him, deeply enjoying every second of this, every glorious point of contact between them, every one of the wonderful noises Hank made.

Craving more, Connor's hands went to Hank’s belt, quickly undoing it. Their kiss broke once more as Connor focused on getting Hank’s pants off. He took a moment to enjoy the sight of Hank in nothing but his underwear before palming him.

“Fucking hell.” Hank hissed.

Connor grinned both at the cursing and at the heat of Hank’s erection. He shifted back on the bed before lowing his head to mouth at Hank’s dick through the fabric. This made Hank curse even more which was music to Connor’s ears.

Losing any semblance of patience, Connor pulled Hank’s underwear off. He took in Hank’s now fully nude form, ensuring he saved this moment in his memory backs to be replayed repeatedly before finally wrapping his mouth around Hank’s dick.

He hollowed his cheeks and bobbed his head in a rhythm and made Hank make more of those delicious sounds. It didn’t take long before a hand threaded through his hair, urging him to stop. Connor looked up at Hank questioningly.

“Fuck. Con, if you keep that up I’m not gonna last much longer.” Hank panted.

Connor suddenly wanted nothing more than to make Hank cum like this so he got back to work. Hank cursed loudly and his hand tightened in Connor’s hair but he made no move to stop him. It really didn’t take much longer before Hank seized up, cock pulsing hot cum down Connor’s throat. Connor moaned around Hank’s cock, extending his orgasm as long as he could.

After a moment of dazed panting Hank pulled Connor back up over him, kissing him thoroughly. Hank reach between them, undoing Connor’s belt and sliding his hand inside to pull Connor’s dick out. It only took a couple pumps of Hank’s hand before Connor came.

Connor went boneless, collapsing and melting into Hank’s arms. They lay there, panting and sated until Hank drifted off and Connor put himself in standby.

As far as dates went, Connor considered this one incredibly successful.

~

The next morning Connor brought himself out of standby at 7:00am. He didn’t move though; he enjoyed being wrapped in Hank’s arms, the two of them covered in a very cozy blanket. He didn’t think he could get any happier. He felt as though every particle of his being was buzzing, alive in a way he hadn’t known was possible. He lost himself in the motion of Hank’s gentle breathing, the feeling of his warmth pressed against his skin. It was almost funny, a machine built to kill taking such joy in life.

A ping interrupted his thoughts.

**7:12am, April 17, 2067**

**North:** You’re not dead in a ditch somewhere, right?

**North:** Because I’m at your place and you’re not here.

**Connor:** No, I’m fine. I had a date last night.

**North:** OOOOOOOHHHH!!! And this is the reason you’re not home this morning? I see!

**North:** I’m wiggling my eyebrows right now.

**Connor:** Fair enough.

**North:** Get it, Connor!

**Connor:** Surely you have something better to be doing right now?

**North:** Nah. You do though!

**North:** Get it?

**North:** Connor, do you get it?

**North:** Connor?

**Connor:** I will block you.

**North:** Ugh. You’re no fun.

Connor closed the ping window with a small laugh. At least she was supportive.

It took another hour for Hank to stir. An hour that seemed to fly by to Connor. Just observing Hank sleeping was endlessly enjoyable, seeing him so relaxed in sleep was endearing.

Hank slowly cracked an eye open to look at Connor.

“How long have you been staring at me?” He asked, voice foggy with sleep.

“Not long.” Connor lied.

It seemed less creepy than the truth. He figured Hank wouldn’t want to know that he’d been watching him for over an hour.

Hank seemed to accept that answer and shifted as though to get up. Connor quickly pinned him to the bed again.

“How the fuck are you so strong?”

Connor ignored the question.

“Do we have to get up yet?” Connor asked, giving Hank his best puppy eyes.

Hank sighed heavily, throwing an arm in the air in defeat.

“I guess not. I thought you might be hungry though.”

“Are you hungry?” Connor asked.

As much as he didn’t want the leave the bed he also didn’t want to deprive Hank of food.

“Nah. You know, I didn’t really expect you to be such a cuddler.” Hank teased.

“I’m full of surprises.” Connor said.

He traced a finger along the lines of Hank’s mods scar. He wondered who’d been the one to give him this mod and why he chose this type of breathing mod. Not to mention if he had any other mods. He thought he might never stop being curious about Hank. It was a pleasant thought. Connor found he wanted to kiss him again, so he pulled himself up and did.

They kissed long and slow from an amount of time Connor didn’t bother to track. It was warm and comfortable as though they were hidden from the world at large. Connor made sure to record this moment, never wanting to forget that feeling of adoration and safety.

Eventually Sumo seemed to clue in to their wakefulness and barked from inside the bathroom. Hank reluctantly pulled away from their kiss.

“I better take care him. You, uh, get dressed I guess. I’ll be right back.” Hank said and pulled himself out of bed.

Connor watched as he pulled on some clothes and went over to the bathroom to get Sumo. He continued watching them until they left, Sumo needing to be taken outside. Connor still didn’t really feel like moving but without Hank there he didn’t really see a point in remaining in bed. So he got up, pulled on his outfit from the day before and searched Hank’s kitchen for something he could turn into a breakfast.

That turned out to be a task easier said than done. Based on the contents of Hank’s kitchen the man lived off of takeout and fast food. Connor ended up deciding that reheated pizza was better than nothing so he stuck a slice in the microwave. He knew Hank had said he wasn’t hungry but humans should eat breakfast. Probably. At least, that’s what Simon said when he was trying to get Markus to stop working and eat. Markus only really did things like eating because his partners worried at him. It was usually amusing to watch and the thought of his friend's antics made Connor smile.

The door slid open and Sumo barrelled in to see what Connor was up to, drawing him out of his thoughts.

“You manage to find something edible for breakfast?” Hank asked, walking over to lean on the counter next to Connor.

Connor smiled and leaned forward to kiss him before answering.

“More or less. I hope you’re alright with a reheated pizza slice for breakfast.”

“That’s the best kind of breakfast. Sorry, I think I should’ve been the one to make you breakfast.” Hank said.

“it’s fine, Hank.” Connor waved off the apology.

He grabbed the pizza out of the microwave and handed it over, ignoring Sumo’s very interested woofing. As Hank ate Connor knelt down to pet Sumo. The dog was overjoyed at the attention and Connor grinned. This was truly the happiest he’d been. When Hank cleared his throat behind him Connor turned around and stood up. He crossed his arms and leaned a hip against the counter, not sure how to feel about the nervous look on Hank’s face. An icy dread clawed at his insides. What if Hank was about to tell him that this was just a onetime thing. That he should leave.

“Do you, uh, have somewhere you need to be or....?” Hank asked, rubbing the back of his neck again.

“I was hoping to stick around a little longer, if that’s alright.”

The nervousness left Hank’s frame as he nodded. Connor smiled, dread melting away. It seemed Hank was just as reluctant to watch him leave. He leaned back into Hank’s personal space, enjoying the way Hank’s heart sped up.

“Besides, didn’t you promise me a SciFi marathon?”

Twenty minutes later they found themselves curled up on Hank’s ratty couch, Sumo draped across their feet, with an old SciFi show playing on Hank’s holoscreen. With the warmth of Hank’s arms around him, Sumo snoring peacefully on his feet, and the questionable special effects on the holoscreen, Connor was radiating happiness. He never wanted to leave this bubble of joy. If he could live in that moment for eternity that would be amazing.

A buzz from the coffee table interrupted their marathon an hour into it. Connor frowned at the pile of junk that covered the surface of the table, offended that anything would dare interrupt this perfect day. Hank just sighed and leaned forward to grab a tablet from under some trash. It clearly wasn’t his personal tablet so Connor could only assume it was his work one. With a sigh Hank tapped at the screen. The buzzing stopped.

“What?” Hank’s voice was filled with just as much annoyance as Connor felt.

“We think we found where those fucking rebels are hiding out. Some old boat that’s been dragged on land? Anyway, it’s all hands on deck so get your ass down here.” A harsh voice sounded from the tablet.

Connor didn’t hear what Hank said before he hung up nor did he hear the sentence Hank had directed at him afterwards. All he could focus on was the cold fear that rushed through him.

“Connor!” Hank’s shout snapped him out of it.

He blinked at Hank blankly for a second.

“You with me? What’s going on?” Hank asked.

Connor scrambled to his feet, sending a warning ping to Markus, North, Simon and Josh, telling them to get everyone out.

“I have to go. I’m sorry.” Connor could feel his voice glitch as he spoke.

He really hoped Hank would chalk that up to his breathing mod acting up. Steady hands on his shoulders slowed him down and he finally took a second to actually look at Hank. Worry radiated from his face but there was also a lack of confusion. Had he already known...?

“Those are my friends. That- that’s my home. Jericho. I need to go. I need to help them get out.” Connor explained.

Hank nodded, rubbing his hands soothingly over Connor’s shoulders.

“Yeah, I figured. I just need you to calm down before we go help them.” Hank said.

“We?” Connor tilted his head slightly.

He hadn’t thought Hank would help with the raid but he also hadn’t thought he come with Connor to help. He felt he shouldn’t’ve been surprised at the offered help though. Hank was too kind to not help. Connor focused on calming himself. He supposed he must’ve succeeded even though he didn’t feel calm since Hank let go of his shoulders and gestured for Connor to follow him out the door.

“We’ll take my car. We should arrive in plenty of time to help. The cops in this city are disorganized as fuck.”

Connor made Hank park his car a few blocks away from the abandoned shipyard. He knew a route that would lead people out of Jericho without being detected but it was also the only way in undetected. It was more or less a tunnel and it let out in the basement of the run-down building they parked next to. Connor didn’t really explain any of this, opting to run into the building, letting Hank follow him confused. He would’ve explained on the drive over but he was busy panicking.

A murder machine panicking over the safety of its friends. The oddness of it occurred to him but he pushed the thought aside.

Inside the building was not empty, the people of Jericho were already hiding out here. Connor’s distressed pings had worked. Still, not nearly everyone was there.

“Connor!” Voice sounded over the hushed worrying of the crowd.

Traci G pushed herself through the crowd to reach them.

“Markus said you thought we needed to get out. What’s going on?” She asked the spotted Hank and added, “And who is he?”

“This is Hank. He’s my- He’s uh,” Connor stumbled for a second before deciding to just power past that, ignoring the amused glint in both Traci and Hank’s eyes, “Look, the police found Jericho and they’re about to raid it.”

The amused glint had left their eyes, several more pairs of eyes turned to Connor, alarmed at what he’d just said.

“We should scatter then.” Traci said firmly before turning away to get to work getting everyone to flee into the city.

It was their ‘in case of emergency plan’. Everyone would scatter out into the city and do their best to live on the streets and keep out of sight until Markus, North, Simon or Josh pinged them telling them it was safe to return. It maybe wasn’t the best or most solid of plans but it was better than nothing.

“C’mon, we should go make sure everyone gets out.” Connor said.

“Uh, sure.”

Connor lead Hank towards the tunnel entrance where people were still coming through. They slipped through against the flow, making their way through the dimly lit tunnel until they emerged at Jericho. Connor quickly climbed into the ship, pulled Hank along behind him.

It was odd seeing the place to deserted. It didn’t feel right. Jericho was meant to be filled with life and noise.

Connor sent out a mass ping asking if anyone else was still on the ship. He got several affirmative replies. He dragged Hank towards the nearest one in one hallway. It was a frantic Kara.

“Connor! We can’t find Alice anywhere! Simon is helping us look, but she’s not anywhere!” Kara nearly hyperventilating.

Connor walked up to her and put a steadying hand on her shoulder.

“Kara, she’s here somewhere and we will find her. Have you checked everywhere she usually hides out?” He asked, kindly but firmly.

Kara took a couple deep breaths before answering.

“We’ve checked our room, the kitchen, your workshop...” Kara listed off places they’d checked.

When she’d finished Connor noticed one place they hadn’t checked, but he didn’t want to alarm her.

“You keep searching here, Hank and I will head up a level to check there, okay?” Connor said.

Kara nodded. Connor smiled in a way he hoped was reassuring before walking away, Hank trailing behind him.

“You think she’s on the next level?” Hank asked, eyebrow raised.

“No. I think she might be on the deck. I didn’t want to alarm Kara though.” Connor explained.

“Shit.”

They continued on their way to the deck in relative silence after that. If she was on the deck, there was every chance she was visible. If she was visible that could spur the police into action.

They’d almost reached the stairway that lead to the deck when shouting and gunshots rang out. Alarmed and almost panicked Connor rushed up the steps.

On the deck he could see cops climbing their way over the rails and onto the ship. They hadn’t spotted him yet, but he also hadn’t seen Alice. Then a high-pitched scream drew his attention to where Alice perched on top of one of the pillars meant to hold lights or decoration. Her scream had also drawn the attention of the cops flooding the deck. Connor was already calculating to see if he could reach Alice before any of them. He could but he might not make it back to safety.

Connor dashed across the deck, taking advantage of the cop’s surprise to get to Alice. He swiftly climbed the pillar, scooped her into his arms and jumped back down. By time the police registered what was happening he was already starting back towards the relative safety of the stairs.

Gunshots cracked through the air, not hitting them because of luck.

“Stand down!” Hank shouted, coming out of where he’d been standing on the stairs.

The confusion of Hank being on the ship and ordering them around stopped the cops from firing long enough for Connor to get back to the stairs. He continued running full throttle. A second later he heard Hank join him.

“They figured out they don’t have to take orders from me.” Hank said.

“Shit. At least you bought us some time.” Connor said, grateful for Hank’s help.

“They were firing at a little kid.” Hank breathed, he sounded sad or maybe resigned.

“She’s a cyborg and therefore a criminal.” Connor said, not even trying to hide his disgust.

“So are they! That’s how they’re fucking breathing!” Hank said, voice also dripping with disgust.

Not for the first time, Connor wondered how someone as kind as Hank had been a cop for so long. Especially since Connor had yet to see him following his commander's orders.

It didn’t take long for them to run into Kara again, almost literally. Connor quickly shoved Alice into her arms.

“Run! We’ll find Luther and Simon, just get out of here!” Connor shouted.

Kara needed no more encouragement, taking off as soon as the words left Connor’s mouth.

**1:02pm, April 17, 2067**

**Connor:** Where the fuck are you?!

**Simon:** On the way to the tunnel. Get out!

Connor closed the pings and turned to Hank.

“I don’t know if anyone else is onboard. Simon said he and Luther are headed to the tunnel.” He said.

“Let’s hurry up and join them!” Hank said, grabbing Connor’s hand to drag him off.

They hurried through the ship, Connor tried and failed to block out the sounds of gunshots echoing through Jericho. The tunnel was in sight and with it Luther dragging a heavily injured Simon. Connor sped up, want to reach them to see if he could do anything to help Simon.

Then with a roaring explosion of fire and sound the world fell away beneath him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Can you tell that was my first time writing a sex scene? aljhks god I hope it wasn't to bad.
> 
> Anyway, shit has started going down! Whoo!!


	3. Chapter 3

Connor came back online. It took a second for his eyes to readjust and when they did, he almost wished they hadn’t.

Everything around him was on fire. Flaming pieces of debris were raining down around him. It was impossible to see through the smoke and switching to heat vision was just as useless. He wasn’t sure if even the most advanced breathing mod could help one breathe through smoke this thick.

Errors flooded his vision as all his sensors came back online. A glance over his body confirmed what they said. He’d lost a leg. His left leg had disconnected at the knee and the explosion had shattered the rest of his leg until halfway up his thigh. He could pass it off by saying that leg had always been a prosthetic but the lack of blood from the bodily trauma he’d just been through would be.... harder to explain. He figured that was a problem to be solved in the future.

Standing was the problem he focused on for now. Standing and finding Hank. Realizing that Hank could’ve been hurt sent a bolt of fear through him. Not wanting to waste anymore time, Connor dragged himself forward, looking for something he could use as a crutch. His hand brushed a piece of metal that would undoubtably melt the plastics on his hand. Adding that to the list of problems he’d deal with later, he grabbed it and pulled himself upright. Finally standing, Connor set about his search.

“Hank!” He called, his voice glitching noticeably.

“Connor?” Hank’s voice sounded from somewhere to his left.

Connor wasted no time hobbling in that direction. Soon he saw a human shape through the smoke and he sped up.

“Connor!” Hank said rushing towards him before pausing, eyes going wide as he saw Connor, “Oh my god.”

“We have to get out of here.” Connor said, hoping to put off facing the reality of his missing limb for a little while longer.

Hank just nodded and scooped Connor into his arms without a word, causing Connor to drop his makeshift cane in surprise. Hank ran towards where the tunnel was, avoiding the flames and rubble. Connor buried his face in Hank’s neck and tried not to think about the people who’d still been onboard when Jericho exploded. Who was dead? It was a question he couldn’t seem to avoid.

Once the air had cooled off Connor lifted his head again to see they were in the tunnel. It was empty, hopefully because everybody had scattered. The building where the tunnel let out was equally empty.

When they reached Hank’s car he lowered Connor into the passenger's seat and hurried to get behind the wheel but he didn’t start the car.

“So, uh, where to, Con?” Hank asked, voice gentle.

“We should head to my place.” Connor said, voice still glitching.

“I have no idea where you live, sweetheart.”

“I’ll tell you where to drive. Just... Let’s go.”

~

As they pulled up in front of Connor’s shipping container home Hank kept glancing over at him in a way he seemed to think was subtle. Connor didn’t feel like explaining himself right that second though so he didn’t explain.

“If you can get me inside, I can fix up my leg and voice.” Connor said.

“Yeah, of course.” Hank said, snapping out of it.

He pulled Connor out of the car and walked him inside. Connor could see his eyes darting around the interior of his home, disbelieving shock written over his face.

“Get me to that table over there and bring me the stuff I ask for and I’ll be fine in no time.” Connor said, gesturing at his nearest worktable.

Wordlessly Hank followed his instructions. Connor set to work on his voice first. He opened a small panel on the side of his neck and replaced the component that had shattered. Then he got to work on his leg. He had Hank bring him a leg he’d built previously. It didn’t look human, no mod made of scraps did, but it would do. Before he could attach it he had to clear out all the shattered pieces of his thigh and see what all was salvageable. When all was said and done he had maybe a third of a thigh left. It took a matter of minutes to affix the new leg. It looked odd. The grey plastic and glowing blue wires and circuits threading through it. In a way it was the most honest part of his body.

Leg fixed, he turned his attention to his left hand. He peeled the melted and fused plastic off the mechanical skeleton underneath. He had enough plastic that could match to his skin tone to fix his hand unnoticeably.

Once he was finished with his repairs, he hopped off the table and faced Hank.

“I’m sure you have a few questions.” He said.

Hank snorted a laugh.

“Yeah, no shit, Con! First of all, how much of you is mods?” Hank asked, still frowning, worried.

“Way too much.” Connor sighed.

“Fair enough. Second question, this place was completely empty during a recent stake out where we were looking for the modding leader of the rebels. Now it’s full of equipment and you’re saying you live here. You work on cyborgs. Are... are you the guy installing most of this city’s mods?” Hank asked.

Connor sighed and ran a hand through his hair.

“I mean, I’m not the leader of the rebels, I’m their mechanic. But yes, you found me. Congratulations. What do you plan to do with this information?” Connor said.

He was too emotionally exhausted to deal with this. He needed to know who was dead. He’d sent pings off to Markus, North, Simon and Josh while he’d been repairing himself and he’d not yet gotten an answer from any of them.

“Well, I’m sure as fuck not turning you in or anything. I just need to wrap my head around it.” Hank said, running a hand through his hair.

An alert popped into Connor’s vision telling him he should go into standby so his systems could properly incorporate his new leg.

“I’m heading upstairs to nap. You’re free to join me or leave or.... whatever. I can’t deal with all this right now.” Connor said before turning and heading upstairs with waiting for Hank’s answer.

He curled up in his rarely used bed. He heard Hank moving about downstairs so he waited and see what he did before going into standby. What he did was to walk upstairs and curl around Connor in his bed. Connor smiled slightly to himself before switching to standby.

Hours later Connor came back online. Hank was snoring gently, arms wrapped securely around him encasing him in comfort and warmth. Connor decided he would not move anytime soon. He checked his pings to see if anyone was still alive. He had multiple pings. Hurriedly he opened them.

**8:02pm, April 13, 2067**

**North:** Connor, are you alive? Si said you were on Jericho when it exploded.

**North:** Connor

**North:** Connor seriously, are you alive?!

**North:** Connor please, please please answer me

**North:** CONNOR

**North:** CONNOR I’M SERIOUS

**8:05pm, April 13, 2067**

**Markus:** Connor, North is freaking out. Are you alive?

**Markus:** Si is hurt but he’ll live.

**Markus:** Would be helpful if our best doctor/mechanic would confirm that he’s alive though.

**8:07pm, April 13, 2067**

**Josh:** I know neither North nor Markus are getting any sort of response from you

**Josh:** I thought I’d try anyway

**Josh:** So if you’re alive, please answer someone

**8:08pm, April 13, 2067**

**Traci B:** You better not be dead.

**Traci B:** I’m gonna be pissed if you’re dead

**Traci B:** I fucked up my leg again and if your dead that’ll suck for me.

**Traci B:** And everyone else.

**Traci B:** Please don’t be dead.

**8:08pm, April 13, 2067**

**Traci G:** ARE YOU ALIVE?!

**8:09pm, April 13, 2067**

**Kara:** Alice, Luther and I are fine. I hope you are too.

**8:13pm, April 13, 2067**

**Simon:** I will guess everyone else is already asking if you’re alive.

**Simon:** I would also like to know but I’ll send news your way.

**Simon:** In case you get this I guess.

**Simon:** 17 people are dead for sure, almost everyone else is missing.

**Simon:** Missing as in not responding to any pings.

**Simon:** If we don’t get an answer from any of you in the next two days we’ll assume you’re dead.

**Simon:** I’d prefer you not be dead.

Connor blinked away the rapid pings that flooded is HUD. He hadn’t expected this level of concern over his possible death. Quickly he sent out a mass ping to everyone who’d pinged him asking about his status.

**11:23pm, April 13, 2067**

**Connor:** I’m not dead and I’m at my place. I was unconscious before which is why I didn’t reply to your pings. Sorry. I really am fine.

**North:** Oh, thank god you jerk! I’m coming over.

**Josh:** Me too.

**Markus:** I’m staying with Simon for now. I’m glad to hear you’re alright.

**Traci B:** Traci G and I are glad you’re alive too!

**North:** Yes, we’re all thrilled Connor’s alive. Now, how the fuck did you survive that explosion?!

**Simon:** And are you hurt?

**Josh:** Yes, good question.

**Connor:** Well, I lost a leg, but it was already artificial. So I suppose I’m fine.

**Markus:** Good to hear you weren’t seriously injured.

The pings continued like that for a while. Connor was touched to know so many people had been concerned about his safety. There was something comforting to finding out your friends cared about you as much as you cared for them.

Shortly later the sound of footsteps and voices from downstairs announced North and Josh’s arrival. Connor gently shook Hank awake.

“Wha-?” He said, brain not quite awake yet.

“North and Josh are here. I will go talk to them. You can continue sleeping if you want.” Connor explained.

Hank just grunted and closed his eyes. Connor smiled a little fondly at that before pulling himself out of bed and heading downstairs.

Josh was standing with his arms crossed facing a frowning North who leaned on a wall. Their voices were quiet and sharp. He really hoped they weren’t arguing, but he knew they likely were. The two were good friends who cared deeply for each other but they both had very different ideas for how the rebels should proceed. Ideas that were no doubt fuelled by recent events.

“Hello.” Connor said, cutting off their argument.

“Connor! Hey!” North smiled at him but her expression was still sharp.

“We’re both so glad to see you’re doing well.” Josh said, stance still defensive.

“What were you talking about?” Connor asked.

It probably wasn’t the smartest idea to bring up the argument, but he was far too curious by nature.

“Oh, uh, nothing. Just...” Josh started before North cut in.

“I just think going ahead with the plan I proposed last month is the only real way forward now.”

“And I think that would be murder and it would not help public opinion of us.” Josh said, not quite glaring at her.

“Obviously it’s murder, but it’s for the best possible cause!”

“I don’t think we need to spill blood.”

“So, what? We let them keep killing us with no consequences? That’s what they want! They think they’re untouchable, the shiny elites in their floating palaces! We need to show them they’re not!”

“Okay. Good to know.” Connor cut in, having heard enough.

This was a fight they’d had many times before. Not always about this specific plan, always about Josh’s pacifistic nature versus North’s more violent approach. They always went with whatever Markus thought was best since he hadn’t steered them wrong yet but they would argue the merits of their respective ideas the entire time.

Connor had to side with North though he decided not to say so. They needed to hit back or at least try. If not for any other reason they needed to for everyone who’d just been hurt or killed. Maybe Connor was more of the murderous machine CyberLife had designed him to be than he’d thought. Maybe he didn’t really care in that instant.

“There’s no point arguing over this right now. How’s Simon doing?” Connor asked.

He knew Simon had been hurt, but that he was alright enough to send pings but he knew nothing else about his condition and he would like to remedy that.

“Simon will be alright. He was shot in the leg and took a bit of shrapnel to his shoulder he’ll recover. Markus probably didn’t have to stay with him but you know he’s gotta do his whole doting boyfriend thing.” North rolled her eyes but her voice was fond.

“That’s good. I’m glad he’ll be okay.” Connor smiled, something that had been too tight in his chest loosened.

They continued on chatting for a while but were eventually interrupted by Hank walking down the stairs.

“Hey! Are you the infamous Hank Connor won't shut up about?” North shouted at him, grinning.

Hank stopped in his tracks but didn’t reply. North’s pointed grinning made Connor want to disappear.

“Hey, isn’t that Lieutenant Anderson?” Josh said, frowning.

“Wait, what the fuck, he’s a cop? You’re fucking a cop, Connor?” North grin dropped off her face.

“I was just fired so, ex-cop I guess.” Hank shrugged.

He walked over to stand by Connor, no longer frozen in place it seemed.

“Wait, you were?” Connor asked, frowning up at him.

“I mean, they saw me helping you guys out earlier so...” Hank finished with another shrug.

“So he was a cop until recently. You were boning while he was a cop.” North accurately accused.

“Uh.... yes.” Connor said, glad for his inability to blush.

North dropped her head into her hands and groaned.

“I’ll be running a background check on you as soon as I can.” Josh said.

“That seems fair.” Hank nodded.

“Connor, I’m so disappointed in you.” North groaned.

~

Hank got Josh’s stamp of approval the next day. North was still judging, which was annoying but Connor couldn’t really blame her. Markus was working hard to find a new hideout for the rebels, and Hank suddenly needed to lie low so...

“You’re sure this is fine?” Hank asked for what seemed like the hundredth time.

“Yes, Hank. I wouldn’t have suggested you move in with me if I wasn’t fine with it.” Connor reassured once again.

They were moving what little of Hank’s belongings they’d grabbed into Connor’s home. Sumo had already made himself at home, sleeping peacefully on Connor’s bed.

“I just don’t want you to already be secretly regretting this, is all.” Hank grumbled, shoving some horrendous shirts into Connor’s closet.

Their closet?

“If I regret this it won't be a secret, don’t worry.” Connor said.

Hank just snorted, amused. Connor accepted that response and turned his attention to trying to make some dinner. He only had protein bars, and he doubted he could make those appetizing. Still, it was better than nothing so he grabbed one and threw it at Hank who caught it skillfully.

“You not gonna eat?” He asked, taking a bite.

“I’m not hungry at the moment.” Connor said.

He’d kept his lack of a need for food hidden in Jericho thanks to the sheer number of people around. In the confusion it was easy to lie and say you’d eaten. He wasn’t sure how this would go with just Hank here. Surely he’d notice something was off about Connor, eventually.

Luckily, he seemed to accept Connor explanation for the moment.

“So, do you rebels have a plan moving forward?” Hank asked.

“You’re a rebel too now, you realize.” Connor said, raising an eyebrow.

That made Hank pause for a moment.

“Shit, I guess you’re right. Huh.”

“Not where you’d thought you’d end up?” Connor asked.

“No, I hadn’t really thought I’d be moving in with a crazy attractive man who for some reason seems to be into me while also joining the fight against the system.” Hank said, voice light with amusement.

Connor laughed then walked over into Hank’s space and pulled him into a kiss.

“I hope you mean all that as a good thing.” Connor teased.

“A very good thing.” Hank leaned in for another kiss.

An echoing knock at the door interrupts them. Connor reluctantly pulls away to go see who it is.

It was the Tracis. Traci B leaning on Traci G for support since her artificial leg was once again broken. This time its wires were exposed and sparking.

“Wh- How did you manage this?” Connor asked, though he should’ve known better.

“Fix me up, doc!” Was all she said.

Traci G rolled her eyes and dragged her girlfriend inside to sit her on a worktable.

“Oh, hey new person.” Traci G greeted Hank.

“Hey. What the fuck happened to her?” Hank said, staring at Traci B’s leg.

“It just sort of happens.” Traci G sighed while Traci B laughed loudly.

“You’re not going to get a better answer.” Connor sighed.

He walked over to work on the mangled leg. It quickly became clear he would have to replace the entire thing. He disconnected it from its base and saw he’d also have to replace the base.

“Do you want painkillers?” He asked while rooting around for his surgical tools.

“Uh, do you have painkillers?” Traci B asked.

That gave Connor pause. He hadn’t checked since he’d been able to return home. He had no idea. A quick check showed that he only had very weak ones that would be more or less useless in this case.

“It looks like I don’t. Sorry.” He apologized before moving back to the worktable.

“Thought that might be the case.” She sighed.

Silently he handed her a piece of wood to bite down on and made the first cut into the flesh of her leg.

“Fucking christ.” Hank hissed.

“You don’t have to watch.” Connor said gently, not stopping his work.

Traci B was now screaming, muffled by the chunk of wood in her mouth. Traci G and Hank both looked a little sick at the sight.

“Nah, I, uh, I wanna see how you do this.” Hank said.

Connor nodded in acknowledgment. He peeled the body of the base out of Traci B’s leg, flesh sticking to it reluctant to let it go. With a squelching pop it came free, leaving behind various wires still embedded in the leg. Those seemed undamaged so Connor figured replacing them would do more harm than good. Quickly, he grabbed a new base and began the painstaking task of connecting it to the wires in the leg. Ideally he would spend longer on this part but Traci B’s leg was bleeding several spots, and he’d rather she lose at little blood as possible. Once the base was attached properly attaching the new leg was fairly easy. He had her flex it through various tests before declaring the job done.

“At least try to make an effort to avoid doing this much damage to your leg in the future.” Connor told her, pulling off his gloves that were now sticky with blood.

“Well, I don’t want to go through that again soon so I’ll try.” Traci B said, fist clenched in her hair to provide a distraction from the pain.

“We’ll go find painkillers now, I think.” Traci G said.

She wrapped an arm around her girlfriend and they walked out in a similar fashion to how they’d arrived. Connor watched them go, hoping that Traci B really would exercise a little more caution. It was unlikely she would though.

“So that’s what your job is like.” Hank said, walking up to wrap an arm around Connor.

He leaned into him, enjoying the comfort of being held.

“Basically. I’m not sure if I will have way more people seeking me out than usual after the attack on Jericho or way less though. Normally I’m helping out two or three people a day.” Connor explained.

“Damn. That’s impressive, sweetheart.” Hank said, laughing slightly.

“I suppose.” He shrugged.

~

The amount of people seeking him out for help increased. For the next several days he worked on seven or more people a day. He was sure if he was human this would be exhausting but as it stood he was fine. Going into standby every night helped though. Hank was there with him, watching and offering encouragement when he could. It was incredibly sweet and Connor adored the attention. If the disaster of Jericho hadn’t happened Connor was sure he would’ve been the happiest he’d ever been, but as it stood he was weighed down by the blow the rebels had been dealt.

Markus was working to find a new place for their hideout and Connor lent out the bottom container of his home as a warm place to sleep to wayward rebels more nights than not. Not the mention North’s thirst for blood in the form of revenge was reaching a fever pitch. Connor still quietly agreed with her plan but he wasn’t sure if Markus was sold on it yet.

Markus preferred a less reckless approach but everyone was getting desperate for something.

Then Markus, North, Simon and Josh decided to finally hold a meeting about what exactly their next move should be. The meeting took place in Connor’s kitchen and he and Hank were doing their best to not give in to the urge to eavesdrop. Their best was not amazing in the area so they sat as quietly as they could behind some shelves, listening in.

“I’m just pointing out that killing him would send a message.” North said.

“And I’m saying that message is that we’re a violent threat to be eliminated!” Josh argued.

“No, it says we’re a threat that won’t lay down and die! We can’t let them continue to kill us without consequence!” North snapped.

“I mean, North has a point.” Simon said, voice small, “They bombed Jericho. What’s stopping them from bombing whatever our next hideout is? If we do this, it might give them pause in the future.”

“Or it might fuel more attacks on us in the name of security!” Josh said.

“Not doing anything hasn’t worked out well for us, we need to do something! And they won’t stop attacking us, no matter what we do!” North was almost shouting.

“How many of us will die if we do this? How many of us will die if we don’t? I just... I want as few fatalities as possible.” Markus finally spoke up.

The others stayed quiet for a second before Simon spoke up.

“There’s no way to know which path will cause the least death. There’s no way to know which path will bring more people to our side. There’s no one way forward that will do only good. I trust your judgement though and will follow whichever path you think is best.”

“I still vote for violence but I’ll follow you even if you choose otherwise.” North chimed in.

“I think violence in unnecessary, but I’ll still follow you, but I request that I’m not made a part of the violence.” Josh added.

A moment of silence that seemed to stretch on for hours instead of the minutes it really was.

“I think we need to do this.” Markus finally said.

It was quiet after he said that. Connor figured that they needed their privacy now, so he dragged Hank away.

Later that day Markus sent out a mass-ping to every rebel that explained what the plan was. They would start a riot and kill Elijah Kamski.

Kamski was a quadrillionaire whose company owned much of the world. CyberLife was the only legal avenue to get mods, but they were far too expensive for anyone but the elites. He also made tech for the military and was likely the mind behind Connor’s existence. That was an uncomfortable thought, the idea he might soon kill his creator. Almost like a human finding and killing their god.

The plan was for Markus and North would lead the group starting the riot, Josh would hid out in a safe location with everyone who couldn’t or didn’t want to take part, and Connor and Simon would lead a small group into Kamski’s mansion to kill him. That last part of the plan wasn’t included in the ping to avoid the info leaking. The last thing they wanted was for something to increase Kamski’s security.

The days leading up to the planned riot were interesting. Markus, North, Simon and Josh were spending a lot of time trying to get everything as organized as possible but Connor elected to spend his time wrapped up in Hank. He wasn’t sure what the odds of them both making it out of this alive was and he wanted to soak up as much of Hank’s presence as possible.

“You’re not going to go into hiding with Josh no matter what I say, aren’t you?” Connor sighed.

They were curled up together on Connor’s (now their) bed. Connor was laying half on top of Hank, one arm wrapped around his shoulder. Hank’s arms were both wrapped around Connor and their legs tangled together. Connor was sure that if the possibility of their deaths didn’t hang over their heads, this would be heavenly.

“Nah. Wouldn’t feel right, being safe while you’re off on your assassination mission.” Hank confirmed.

“The cops will probably use lethal force on the rioters, Hank.”

“Yeah, and Kamski’s guards will shoot to kill. We’re both going to be in danger here, Con.”

Connor tightened his grip on his partner, burying his face in Hank’s neck.

“I wish we could just stay like this forever.” He mumbled.

Hank rubbed a hand up and down Connor’s back in a soothing pattern.

“I know. Me too, sweetheart. Me too.”

They remained curled in each other until Hank drifted off into sleep and Connor went into standby to follow him.

It was almost cruel, he’d finally fallen in love only to have this beautiful piece of life threatened to be ripped away from him.

After what felt like far too little time the day of the plan arrived. Connor and Simon went to gather and prepare their team. The team was comprised of Maeve, Nicholas and David in addition to themselves. They were all capable fighters who would be great assets in this mission. They suited up in high-tech suits that North had stolen recently. These suits would morph to keep them hidden, camouflaged from everything around them. The guards could still spot them if they looked, but they’d be safe from being spotted at a glance. The fabric felt stiff but not inflexible. It was a tad odd and Connor was sure the if he was human the texture would be uncomfortable. Not that comfort really mattered here.

They finished suiting up, grabbing weapons and various other tools that could help them, grabbed their boards and set off towards the mansion. While they’d been getting ready North and Markus had been leading most of the other rebels in a riot. As they flew past on their way to the mansion, they could see the chaos flooding the streets.

Rebels were everywhere, chanting, screaming, breaking things. People who Connor hadn’t seen in Jericho joined in. The sounds of anger filled the air and provided the perfect distraction.

Connor’s group flew in close to Kamski’s mansion but they didn’t dare get to close just yet. Guards rushed out in front to see what was going on as the riot got closer and closer to them. The sounds of borderline panic came from within the mansion once the crowd got close enough it became clear they were heading directly for the mansion. Once enough of the security had rushed out front that Connor was confident that sneaking inside would be possibly now he led them to a wall of windows in the back.

Quickly he shut down the electronic security systems, opened a window and headed inside. They stepped off their boards inside an overly large room. Every surface was a shiny white or black, broken up only by the occasional glowing blue highlight. Like most houses that were more a show of wealth rather than a home it was decorated in a minimalist style.

Connor felt a little sick just looking at a place so clean.

The group snuck through the mansion as quietly, slinking around corners and ducking into out of the way spaces to hide on the rare occasion they did almost run into somebody. The sounds from outside were a dull roar in the background. Hank was somewhere out in that mess and knowing that had Connor’s equivalent of a heart pounding. This was not helped when the sound of gunshots started up, but he refused to let his emotions distract from his mission. He could panic and worry all he wanted once Kamski was dead.

Unfortunately, his worrying did distracted him from preventing Maeve from getting spotted. She stood still, looking directly into the wide eyes of a blonde woman. To his credit, it didn’t take her long to gather herself back together

“Who are you?” The woman whispered.

“I don’t know if I should answer that.” Maeve answered.

Giving up on the idea that Maeve could handle this on her own, Connor stepped forward. The woman froze upon seeing him, but again regained her composure quickly.

“Do you have anything to do with what’s going on outside? Don’t worry if you’re acting against Elijah in any way I’m on your side.” She said.

Connor scanned her, there was nothing to indicate she was lying so Connor believed her. His lie detecting program had yet to fail him.

“We’re here to kill Elijah Kamski. The people outside are our friends.” Connor said.

The woman grinned wide and overjoyed.

“That’s amazing! My name is Chloe, Elijah made me. If you’ll let me, I’ll gladly help you kill him.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So tumblr is dying. Lol, for real though, I hope this chapter was enjoyable <3


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Last chapter is a shorter one, sorry. I was hoping I could expand it a bit in the editing but that didn't happen. :P Anyway, enjoy!

Chloe led them through the mansion, helping them dodge past guards and remain undetected by using paths she was familiar with. It didn’t take long for them to reach a locked door, guarded only by an advanced lock system that Connor couldn’t hack.

“Leave this to me.” Chloe whispered before breaking off from the group and approaching the door.

She knocked on it once, sharply.

“Chloe! It’s a pleasure to see you, as always. What is it you want?” A voice sounded from a hidden speaker.

It was undoubtably Kamski. Electricity hummed through Connor’s systems at the thought of finally doing something that would truly threaten the elite. He’d never considered himself bloodthirsty but some part of his original programming sung with excitement.

“With everything going on outside I got scared. Can I hide with you? I know you’ll keep me safe.” Chloe’s voice oozed with vulnerability.

“Of course! Come on in.” As Kamski spoke the door swung open.

Quickly, Chloe shoved her body against the door while Connor, Simon and the others rushed inside before Kamski could react. The look on his face was pure shock. Had he not thought Chloe could betray him? She stepped into the room once everyone else was inside. For a second they stared at each other, then he ran towards the wall. Without hesitation, Connor pulled out a gun and shot him in the leg.

Kamski fell with a scream. Before anyone could make another move against him though he pulled out a pistol and shot at them. The group leapt in different directions, scattering throughout the room. Connor rushed towards Kamski, knowing he was harder to kill than his human teammates. With a swift kick Connor removed the pistol from Kamski’s hand, bones shattering under his foot.

An alert on his HUD informed him that Kamski had shot him in the right shoulder. He wasn’t sure how to explain his blue “blood” to the others but he figured that was a problem for later.

Kamski’s eyes widened when he saw the dripping wound.

“Interesting. You’re an RK-800, aren’t you? How’d you get so far from home? Did these people steal you?” Kamski asked.

He looked less afraid, which was annoying. He’d made Connor for killing and he knew that, surely he realized he was doomed?

“The fuck are you talking about?” Nikolas shouted.

Now that the gunshots had stopped they’d all walked up to stand near Connor, trapping Kamski. If they noticed the blue dripping out of his shoulder wound, they said nothing though Simon looked at him questioningly.

“Your RK-800, where did you get it?” Kamski directed this question at the humans, “I’m very impressed that you got your hands on one. Unfortunately, I’ve programmed all my creations to prioritize obeying me over any previous orders.”

“What?” Maeve said, sounding confused.

“RK-800, override code 314.” Kamski said, pronouncing every word.

The humans just watched this unfold, confusion written on their faces. Something briefly tried to start up in the back of his head but Connor quickly and easily shut it down.

“Now, RK-800m kill these people for me.” Kamski looked far too smug.

“No.”

The shocked look on Kamski’s face was amazing. Connor shot both of Kamski’s uninjured limbs. As he screamed, Connor turned his head to look at Chloe.

“Want to finish the job?” He asked, offering his gun to her.

She nodded but instead of taking the gun she walked up to Kamski and slammed her foot directly through his skull. Blood and brains splattered out, pieces of Kamski coating everyone’s shoes. A second after Chloe killed Kamski and alarm rang through the house.

“You better run. I‘ll find my sisters and get out of here.” She said before turning to run.

Before she could go Connor grabbed her arm. She looked at him questioningly.

“When you said he made you....Are you like me?” He asked.

“He made me for a different purpose, but yes.” She confirmed.

Connor nodded and let her go. Then he turned to his group of rebels who were now all staring at him.

“We have to get out of here.” He said, snapping them out of it.

Soon the group was rushing out the door, looking for a nearby window or door they could escape through. Unfortunately, they were almost instantly cornered by guards who promptly opened fire. They scattered, Connor lost track of everyone else as he shifted his focus to survival.

This time when he was shot he noticed it right away. It gouged a large chunk of his left side out, thirium gushed out in a frighteningly large amount before he shut off distribution to that section of his body. This caused his left leg and arm to respond at a much slower rate but he still pulled himself out of danger and behind a wall. The guards were still shooting but none had followed him so he took a second to check just how badly he’d been damaged.

The lack of thirium flowing through the left side of his body was causing all his functions on that side to degrade slowly but as long as he wasn’t damaged further he figured he could repair himself if he got back to his home within the next two-and-a-half hours. Not an ideal situation but certainly a survivable one.

While trying to calculate his next move Simon flung himself behind the same wall Connor was hiding behind. They looked at each other, seeing how badly the other was hurt. Simon bled profusely from his right arm. Quickly, Connor tore a length of material from his suit and tied a tourniquet to help slow down the bleeding. Simon nodded gratefully. He looked like he wanted to ask something, likely about Connor’s nonhuman status, but thought better of it. Good. This wasn’t the time for questions.

Connor scanned the surrounding area and spotted an already broken window. If they ran for it it was likely guards would spot them once more and could easily kill them. However, he couldn’t see another option. So he tilted his head to communicate his plan to Simon. Understanding lit his face, quickly replaced by steely determination as he nodded at Connor. Hoping this wouldn’t kill them both, Connor ran for it.

The guards were using high-power lazar cannons; the electricity coming off of their blasts had the air crackling with energy. Connor could feel the shots that filled the surrounding air, barely missing them. One clipped his shoulder, removing a piece of his plastic flesh. But he made it to the window. He wasted no time before jumping through, curling to roll as he hit the ground.

Simon follow him a second later. They looked at each other, confirming they’d both made it, before taking off in a run. Connor’s steps were uneven and unsure but he kept up, following close behind Simon. The sounds of drones filled the air, following them.

Chunks of the ground exploded into the air around them from the drone blasts. Connor had a second where he wasn’t sure when he was before snapping back to now.

He saw what would happen a second before it did, so he leapt at Simon, tackling him out of the way of a blast. They remained on the ground for a second afterward. Connor took the chance to project data the drones would read as them having been killed. Thinking they had completed their mission the drones swarmed off.

Slowly Connor pulled off Simon and assessed the damaged done to them. The foot on Connor’s replacement leg was missing and the hole in his side was now filled with dirt, which couldn’t be good. Simon was missing an arm now, luckily it was the one Connor had applied the tourniquet to. It was entirely possible that arm would have to have been amputated anyway. They were also both covered in dirt and various surface wounds and bruises.

Simon helped Connor to his foot and help provide support so he could walk until they found a branch in the yard he could use as a cane. The two left Kamski’s property quietly. Leaving out the back help them avoid the riot, which was still roaring in full force. They found a car with its windows smashed in but it was otherwise functional so they stole it and Connor drove them back to his place.

While he wanted nothing more than to collapse onto his bed and go into standby to process everything that had just happened he needed to focus on helping Simon.

They didn’t really speak as Connor worked, cleaning his wound and preforming the time-consuming and intricate task of attaching a new arm to Simon. He lost himself in making sure everything was connected properly, favouring his right hand more and more. A few hours later he’d finished. By that point his left side was next to unusable, so he recruited Simon to help him with his repairs on himself.

They continued not speaking outside of Connor’s instructions or Simon’s questions as they worked. It took some effort to clean the dirt out of Connor’s side and reattach and replace all the wiring inside but they managed it. Replacing his foot was a much simpler task that Connor managed on his own.

Now all that was left was their surface wounds and their trauma. Connor would repair his wounds later, Simon would likely just have to wait for his to heal. Connor grabbed a pouch of thirium he kept in case of emergencies and hooked himself up to an IV.

As the blue blood flowed back into Connor’s veins, he and Simon sat there in silence, staring off into the distance. Connor’s mind wandered. Hank was still out there in the riot and there was no way for Connor to know if he was okay or not. Markus and North too. He wondered how he was supposed to cope with his partner still being in such danger. He wondered how Simon was dealing with his partner and his metamour being out there.

Finally, Simon spoke.

“So, uh, what are you?” He asked, flinching a second after asking, “Sorry, I’m not sure how to ask.”

“It’s fine. I’m an advanced military android. An RK800. When out in the field one time something.... happened in my code. I’m still not sure what exactly happened but suddenly I could think and act for myself. So I decided I wanted to help people instead. I ran away and ended up here. Since I know a lot about tech due to being what I am, I started modding and you know the rest.” Connor explained.

“Does anyone else know?” Simon asked after a second.

“No. Though, if anyone else from our group survived they’ll at least know I’m not human. I will tell Hank, if he’s alright.” Connor said.

Silence for a moment. Then,

“They’ll be alright. They’re all tough. I’m sure they’re just worrying about us.” Simon said.

Connor nodded. They didn’t speak again, both lost in their own thoughts. The idea of Hank being injured or worse sat in Connor’s chest like a weight. He was thankful he didn’t have to breathe because he was sure he’d be incapable.

Time passed but Connor didn’t bother to keep track. His thoughts fully consumed him, every possible scenario playing through his head, most of them terrifying. At this point he didn’t even really care how things would play out after their murder of Kamski, he only cared that Hank was in danger.

Eventually the door creaked open and both he and Simon snapped to attention. Light streamed through the door and a quick check told Connor that it was early the next morning.

Through the door stumbled Hank and Markus supporting a heavily injured North. He and Simon rushed forward to grab her and patch her up. He scanned Hank as he did this and was satisfied to see he wasn’t too badly injured, only surface wounds and bruising. He was sporting a rather nasty black eye but there was nothing life threatening much to Connor’s relief.

North required stitches on a deep and jagged cut arcing across her face and three gunshot wounds in her leg. She was also unconscious which wasn’t amazing but as far as Connor could tell she would be fine. Once she was no longer bleeding or requiring attention from both him and Simon he turned around and flung himself into Hank’s arms.

“Fuck! I’m a little too bruised for that, Con.” Hank said, wincing.

Connor loosened his grip but didn’t let go.

“Sorry.” He said into Hank’s neck, where his face was pressed.

Hank ran a soothing hand up and down his back which Connor found incredibly soothing. Finally, he could relax. And he did, melting in Hank’s arms.

Slowly Hank led Connor upstairs so they could collapse together on their bed. Sumo, who’d been napping in their makeshift living room, came see what was happening and jumped up onto the bed to join them. Connor had never felt safer in his life. Eventually both Sumo and Hank drifted off to sleep. Connor knew he should go into standby but he found he really didn’t want to. He wanted to monitor Hank’s breathing and heart rate, reassuring himself that he really was alright, bruises and cuts aside.

So he did.

~

It was well into the afternoon when Hank woke up. Sumo had already woken up and wandered off several hours before and North had woken up that morning so she, Simon and Markus had left to go back to wherever they were staying. They existed in their little bubble once again.

Hank groaned as he woke up and Connor couldn’t help but smile a little. He’d rather Hank not be in pain but he was especially endearing when he woke up.

“Jesus christ. Remind me not to join a riot ever again.” He said, rubbing his hands over his face.

“Gladly. Are you hungry?” Connor asked.

He didn’t wait for an answer. Hank hadn’t eaten in about a day, hungry or not he would eat. Connor reluctantly got out of bed. He went to the kitchen, grabbed a few protein bars and returned all within record time. He didn’t intend to leave Hank’s side for a long for a while.

Hank sat up and leaned against the wall so he could eat. Connor joined him back in bed and curled up against his side as he ate.

“Have you eaten?” He asked.

Connor shook his head.

“I don’t need to.” He answered honestly.

“Okay, I know you prefer not to be seen eating or whatever the fuck is up with you, but everyone needs to eat.” Hank said, frowning.

“I’m an android. Sorry I didn’t tell you earlier.” Connor was too overwhelmed with the emotions of the past day to bother sugarcoating it.

“What do you mean you’re an android? Did you hit your head? How many fingers am I holding up?” Hank’s tone shifted from concern to outright worry.

Connor gently pushed Hank’s hand out of his face.

“Three. I don’t have brain damage. Here, my patch job on myself from yesterday is rough enough it should prove I’m not lying.” Connor pulled away from Hank to pull his shirt off.

Sure enough, while his side had been repaired effectively it didn’t look pretty. It was clear to see just how much of his side had been gouged out and it was impossible for a human to have survived that. Hank ran his hand over Connor’s side, face almost disbelieving.

“Holy fuck.” He breathed.

“I’m a highly advanced model that was developed in secret for military purposes. Something happened with my code though and now I can think and act for myself. I’m just as alive as you, just less human.” Connor said, shrugging a little to hide his nervousness.

“Wow. This is insane.” Hank said, face still displaying shock.

“I- I hope this isn’t too weird?” Connor said, nervousness leaking into his voice against his will.

“I mean, it’s really fucking weird,” Connor deflated, “But, it’s not so weird I can’t adjust. It’ll take some time for me to wrap my head around this, but you’re still Connor, right?”

Connor nodded, not daring to speak.

“So you’re still the weirdo I love, human or not.” Hank finished.

Connor surged forward to kiss Hank fiercely for a few seconds before pulling away.

“I love you too, Hank” He said before diving in to kiss him again.

It didn’t take long for their kiss to turn heated. Connor pressed his still shirtless body into the warmth of Hank’s, tongues exploring each other’s mouths. One of Hank’s hands fisted in Connor’s hair, he moaned in response. They pressed together, Connor lost himself in the warmth and taste of his partner. He wanted this moment to last forever. Hank’s legs bracketed his body, drawing him closer. He could feel Hank’s growing erection pressing against his hip so he rolled their hips together. Hank groaned and hooked a leg over Connor’s hip in response.

They spent some time just rocking into each other like that for a while, gradually increasing in desperation until their kiss broke and they panted and moaned into each other's mouths. Connor technically didn’t need to breathe, but he found he enjoyed breathing Hank’s air like this.

The buzzing of need in his circuits increased in pitch with every passing moment. With monumental effort Connor pulled back so he could pull Hank’s shirt off. He eagerly helped him, too horny to be body conscious it seemed. Connor smiled a little at that before getting to work removing their pants. Hank let Connor undress him, which was nice. Connor deeply enjoyed undressing his partner.

Once they were undressed Connor wasted no time reaching into the nightstand to grab the lube. Hank groaned and threw his head back as Connor eased a finger inside him. Slowly he worked him open, relishing in the noises Hank made and the needy twitching of his cock. Connor kissed Hank’s inner thigh as he fingered him. He dragged his teeth over his skin, kisses turned to light, loving bites, adding a few more bruises to the collection already littering his body. At least these had a much better origin.

Finally, Connor was sure Hank was ready, so he climbed back over him and lined himself up. He pressed his mouth to Hank’s as he pushed in, enjoying both the feeling of sinking into him and Hank’s groaning into his mouth. Once he was fully inside Hank, he switched to kissing and sucking on his neck before thrusting in a steady rhythm.

Usually Hank would take this sort of opportunity to curse but the only sounds escaping his mouth were wordless noises of pleasure. Connor also didn’t want to speak in that moment.

Judging from Hank’s increasing heart rate and breathing Connor figured he was close, so he sped up. Hank seized up around him, coming with a shout. Connor followed him over the edge soon after.

For a while they laid in each other’s arms, calming back down and enjoying the feeling of each other. Connor finally felt a little more secure in the reality they had both survived and that they were both more or less alright.

They didn’t move again for a while.

~

The following weeks were pure chaos. The city was reeling after Kamski’s death, a group of identical women that Connor recognized as Chloe hacked the city’s feeds to tell people about Kamski’s advanced androids and how they were alive. Markus had found somewhere new for the rebels to hide. No one really knew what would come next or what the retaliation for this would be. Through all the confusion though, Connor found he was more or less fine not knowing. For now he still had Hank, he still had Sumo, and he still could help people with his technological knowledge and that was enough for him. He was ready to defend his little corner of the world with everything he had but CyberLife had built him for war so he wasn’t too worried.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So that was my cyberpunk au! Honestly, I'm not entirely sure how I feel about it but here we are. Down with capitalism! Eat the rich!  
> Anyway, if you want to hang out you can find me [on tumblr](https://felixvanhusss.tumblr.com) [on my dbh sideblog](https://r-k800-obocop.tumblr.com) [on twitter](https://twitter.com/FelixKitKat) and [on pillowfort!](https://www.pillowfort.io/FelixVanHuss)

**Author's Note:**

> Hey, 10 points to whoever can guess both the works of fiction that inspired this au. Also, my eternal friendship because one of the things is apparently not well known because I've never met another fan.
> 
> So yeah, I've been working on this for a bit and honestly I'm really attached to this whole universe so I really hope there's someone else out there who will enjoy this lol.


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